Joy and Matthew were fulfilling their promise to Qiu Wen the week before as they waited for him to pick them up at school to come over to the hospital to observe Xue Ting's voluntary work. The three of them stood observing Xue Ting from outside the kids' playroom as she guided Lily. Slowly, the other kids gathered around Xue Ting as they were captivated and amazed at her art skills.

When Lily was more settled, Xue Ting let her draw independently while she moved on to guide the shy ones, Panira and Yopilai who were sitting by themselves in their seats. While at it, she also made Charles who was next to her, help her out by guiding Ann and Tommy at her side. As she gathered around the other five kids, Xue Ting breathed a sigh of relief noticing Lily began to calm down as she completed her drawing and was busy showing it to Nana excitedly.

Xue Ting could feel her stomach growling a little as she checked the clock and realised it was close to the lunch hour. When she looked in the window direction, only then she caught a glimpse of the twins and Qiu Wen staring from outside as she smiled waving at them. She quickly dismissed the kids for lunch to greet her family.

"Mummy!" Matthew greeted her as he held her arm while she came out from the playroom.

"Hey sweetie, how was school?" Xue Ting asked, touching his tired face.

"It's alright. Usual stuff…" Matthew answered as though lamenting while his sister was eagerly waving at Charles with Qiu Wen looking in.

"Qiu Qiu, don't lure them out. They are getting ready for lunch…" Xue Ting scolded.

"But I want to at least say hi to Charles…" She pouted as she went to snuggle with Xue Ting intending to coax her mother to let her into the playroom. Xue Ting knew her daughter won't let it pass till she could greet Charles, who was her favorite kid out of all of them. Joy was excited when Xue Ting nodded to let her into the playroom.

"Just awhile… We will head for lunch too after this together." Before Xue Ting could finish telling her, Joy had barged in and greeted Charles immediately. Knowing Matthew who was more obedient wouldn't make such a request, Xue Ting nudged him to join his sister to be fair to him.

As Matthew smiled and went into the playroom, Xue Ting noticed Qiu Wen was watching the twins interacting with the kids in awe. "Does he really like kids? If he does, then it's really too bad he missed out so much." Xue Ting thought to herself.

"Sorry to let them drag you here when you are already so busy at work." Xue Ting apologised as she greeted him with an awkward smile when his attention was mostly still at the kids in the playroom.

"Not an issue at all. I was nearby and besides, I promised them lunch today. Tough job isn't it handling kids with special needs?" He finally drew his eyes away from the playroom and observed her.

"Not if precautions steps are taken and always being alert. They can be more free-spirited but got to ensure they avoid events that trigger anxiety from happening. The therapy is to help minimise the attacks of anxiety actually and also to help them express themselves." Xue Ting explained as he walked her out to the bench by the corridor.

"Are you sure you don't want to join them?" Xue Ting asked Qiu Wen but before he could reply, they were interrupted by Lily's mother, Pram.

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"Ms. Sicily…" She called out to Xue Ting.

"Oh, Mdm. Pram. How's everything?" Xue Ting asked holding her hands which were reaching out to her as she approached Mdm. Pram.

"It's getting better. This must be your husband?" She asked as Xue Ting nodded.

"Good afternoon, Mdm. Pram. I'm Ryan." Qiu Wen greeted her as she took his handshake.

"Nice meeting you. You are such a lucky man to have her." Pram's eyes darted to the ground as though lamenting on her own tough luck in marriage.

"Thank you." Qiu Wen replied as Xue Ting patted her hand to comfort her. Before she could ask her further about her days lately with Lily, a commotion was heard from the wardroom she just walked out from.

Pram ran over followed by Xue Ting and Qiu Wen from behind. They were shocked to see several nurses holding down Lily who was out of control. Xue Ting's eyes darted to the surroundings in search of something red knowing Lily was hit with an anxiety attack. Pram then crouched to the ground and spotted a red apple under the bed as she met eye-to-eye with Xue Ting.

As Pram went to the left side of the bed to comfort Lily while Xue Ting went to Lily's left and tried calming her down, they both didn't notice a penknife in Lily's left palm. In a nick of time, while Lily swung the penknife sending everyone panicking, Xue Ting managed to grab the penknife away from Lily. The nurses then quickly got hold of Lily by giving her sedation while Pram settled down by her daughter's side.

That's when Qiu Wen noticed Xue Ting was holding on to the blades of the penknife and her palm was already bleeding. He quickly pulled her away from Lily knowing the bleeding if seen would trigger Lily even more. Upon noticing Xue Ting's bleeding palm, one nurse hurriedly attended to her but she refused as she let them settle Lily first.

Instead, she stepped outside with Qiu Wen who was worried about her injury although she wasn't showing obvious signs of pain. Knowing she was good at enduring pain, Qiu Wen coaxed her to get her palm treated.

"Ting Ting, let's go further down. Come…" He rushed her whose thoughts were haywire. Soon, she felt the pangs of piercing pain on her palm as she inhaled a sharp breath before they reached the emergency.

The doctor and nurses hurriedly treated her palm for fear it might get infected as Qiu Wen stood by her. Subconsciously afraid that Xue Ting would be overwhelmed by the pain, he gently soothed her holding onto another arm but she didn't flinch at all when the nurse treated her wound.

Fortunately, the cut wasn't very deep and no stitches were required. He could tell she was worried and disturbed by the incident earlier as she was staring blankly into space. However, when the nurses left them, she regain her senses and wanted to jump out of bed instantly to see Lily only to be pushed back to sit on the bed by Qiu Wen.

"Stop… Breathe…" Qiu Wen instructed as she began to draw in deep breaths. He sat next to her as he gently rubbed her back to soothe her. She felt much better while subconsciously leaning on his shoulder momentarily.

"Was she the problematic child whom you had been monitoring in class?" Xue Ting nodded.

"How bad is the situation?" Qiu Wen asked to get her to talk about her thoughts and not bottle them up.

He also knew she needed to talk to someone about it to get her worries away without worrying the other party as she had always been like that since young. The twins were definitely out of the question this time and he was glad he was there for her instead.

"She was a witness to her father's death. It was a road accident." Qiu Wen could picture the grim event as he listened to her explanation.

"I'm sorry…" Qiu Wen held her uninjured palm and squeezed it lightly.

She tightened the grip saying "You don't have to. The blood flowing in front of her from her father has left tremendous trauma that triggers her anxiety every time she sees red. Red has been a taboo in my class…"

"... but I love the color for other reasons. I can't be sorry always to Lily about it either." She thought to herself as she let him caress her hands.

"When the maple leaves turned red and you appeared right where I pictured you to be in high school was the reason I like red. Though you never walked to me that day with the bouquet and instead, James did, I knew from your eyes, your intention. When will I ever hear those genuine words from you, Wen Wen?" Xue Ting questioned in her heart as she watched him caressing her hand gently.

"Ting Ting, you're not alone, you know that?" He patted her head as they looked into each other eyes.

She nodded and smiled. "Thank you anyway for being quickwitted earlier and being here, even when you're busy." He smiled in return as he let her continue leaning on his shoulder.

"Just how much exactly are you holding on to, darling?" Qiu Wen questioned in his mind as he accompanied Xue Ting quietly.

"If back then you knew I had anxiety attacks when you left that night… If you turned around to see me one last time, wouldn't we lead a different life together? When will I ever get to tell you what I have always wanted to say, Ting Ting?" Qiu Wen continued to question himself as he sighed.

"You know I am beginning to enjoy the excitement of being a father now, Ting Ting. Would you be ready to embrace me if I were to tell you of all that had happened? Or would I only be pushed away knowing the obstacle all along was my mother?" Qiu Wen's sad face was unseen by Xue Ting who was resting in his arms as he thought to himself.

As they let those unspoken words remain in their hearts, they both were beginning to enjoy each other's companionship unexpectedly during their tough times. Perhaps rather than a contractual relationship, none of them realised their feelings for each other were nurturing and developing their relationship into a blossoming genuine marriage.